Research suggests that showing, rather than just telling, is a more effective way to get customers engaged. It saves time and effort when compared to reading text.

When done correctly, this is an opportunity to demonstrate your product and to show potential customers its value in a more engaging way.

In this post, we highlight different brands that have each used video to demo their products, and we’ve given a couple of takeaway points to highlight what each demo does well.

Google: Show and Tell with Weezer

It takes less than a minute — less than 30 seconds, in fact — to understand what Voice Search is, how it works, and how well it works. (Plus, it has Weezer.)

This promo video appeared in Google’s DemoSlam, a site “where amazing tech demonstrations battle for your enjoyment.” That’s right. In a hot-or-not-style comparison, you get to watch and rate various demos of Google products, many uploaded by normal users. Talk about crowdsourcing useful content!

Prezi: Keeping it Simple

This type of video is simple, easy to make, and a great solution if you sell software or an online service. You can create similar screen capture recordings with programs like ScreenFlow or Camtasia. These programs make it incredibly easy to cut, edit, and add voice overs to create a very very professional looking demo.

This is a useful approach if you find yourself overloaded with FAQs from customers. Create a video answer to a common question, and point your customers to the video for a visual demonstration of how something works.

Tip: Create a series of FAQ videos and place them prominently on Customer Service pages of your site.

DropBox: What is DropBox?

Dropbox presents the problem you didn’t know you had (files all over the place), the solution to that problem (“a magic pocket”), and shows you how it works. They do all that using simple language, illustrations, and metaphors. Any company can do this.

They go one better by making it relatable. Most people have lots of files from many sources, and often need to share them with collaborators. Don’t we all need some kind of resource to keep our files accessible on the go? Dropbox is clearly the solution to this problem.

Tip: Keep it simple! No need to overcomplicate things. Boil your product’s value proposition down to its very core message. Communicate that sentiment in a relatable and entertaining story.

LegoLand: Showcasing the Experience

Lego knows their audience. The product is aimed at children and parents, so the video is child-centric, clearly hoping to bring out the child in everyone. (And who wouldn’t love a bed made of Legos?)

This type of demo is great for companies that sell experience products, particularly ones that might be unfamiliar to people who have never had a comparable experience. This is a teaser as much as a demo.

Tip: Focus on the experience of the end-viewer. It’s not so much about what you want to say to them, as what they want to hear.

Whatever you do, avoid trying to get into too much detail in a single video. Your best bet is to update your site video content on a regular basis, and use each new video to explore a new aspect of your product in a simple way.

The Final Cut:

When creating your demo or explanation videos, keep these tips in mind:

Keep it short.

Leverage crowdsourcing where possible.

Tell a story with your video to help make your product or service relatable to your potential customers.

Use video to answer common questions about your product to reduce customer support requests.

Showcase the experience the customer will receive when using your product or service.